I HAVE...

...MOVED.

pilato.multiply.com

:)

Restaurant Review: Never again...

Senju

Cuisine Type: Japanese and Vegetarian
Location: Edsa Shangri-La

The journey to bliss
Feasting on endless pleasures
Begins on your plate

Some bold words crafted to create a good first impression on your menu...

Here's what I don't understand: You are a restaurant located at one of the best 5-star hotels in the country frequently dined in by your usual VIPs and seldomly by people who want to try you out on special occasions. You are priced beyond reason which gives the expectation that your food is way above the standards. Your staff is dressed and fixed elegantly reflecting high-society service and your ambiance is fantastically arranged to creat the illusion that you are dining at the very foot of Mt. Fuji.

And then, you still manage to do a piss-poor job in serving your very own customers.

My sister's graduation truly ended up to be memorable, in a very unfortunate light though. First off, some dishes were fine - but not all, contrary to what was expected. The steak and grilled prawns, considering (as I mentioned above) the prices, were not worth it at all and would lose in terms of quality (and unreasonable quantity) to the likes of servings from Teriyaki Boy or even Sushiya. Although the Gindara and the sushi were fine, it still wasn't amazing. On this aspect, I was already quite disappointed.

The kicker of the night though was the unmatched service - translating to unbelievable failure. Our waiter wearing his savvy clothes and annoying smile took our orders with utmost confidence projecting impressive professionalism without the need of a pen and paper. Lo and behold, he forgot to order one particular dish for my mother which she waitied for for 45 minutes. We ended up cancelling it and she just shared from all of our dishes. This alone caused tension on what was expected to be a perfect (and expensive) night.

And, of course, there was the bill that took what seemed to be an eternity.

The evening ended in utter discontent as we hurriedly left the premises shaking our heads.

The thing is, you can't tell me that it's graduation night and that the restaurant is undermanned - that's already expected and proper planning could've easily solved that problem. Whatever the reason was, I would love to honestly hear it. With restaurants, it's the golden rule that first impressions last AND spread like wildfire via word of mouth. Needless to say, that was a horrible way to make that impression - especially on a graduation night.

Would I come back to this restaurant? Would I dream of recommending this place to my extended family and friends? Would I even consider giving it another chance on a lighter day?

...No chance in hell.

RATING: 1 out of 10

"Losers always whine about their best, winners go home and fuck the prom queen!" - Captain John Mason, The Rock

Film Review: The ladies and 300...

300 (2007)

Directed by:

Zack Snyder (Dawn of the Dead)




It really has been an experience to be part of my new office - a coupled feeling of being part of a renowned mutlinational public relations firm and, for the lack of a better description, a lady's dormitory. For a time, I was the only man in a 14-person team office set-up and when I joined, they sort of forgot that I was there.

Occasionally, I would hear stuff like "Fuck, my boobs hurt!" or "Who has a napkin, ora mismo if you know what I mean!" And then they would pause and snicker the second they remember I was in the room. Eventually though, they just stopped caring and went about their dormitory ways. The highlight of it would be a certain Tuesday morning when I walked in the office and found everyone gathered around a monitor with jaws dropped and giggles in between. They were watching the Colin Farrell porn flick. (Jesus Christ...) That was the day I realized that girls DO watch porn...

So imagine the monday morning after the weekend the film 300 came out... It was a congressional hearing about abs, pecks, more abs and a little bit of facial hair. They made it clear though that after enjoying and drooling over the movie, they all went home separately to do god-knows-what. Again, I was simply amazed.

The film though was obviously more than just the male physique and sweating men for me. I believe it can easily be the epic war movie of this year and the years to come. From a classic mytchical story originating centuries back exaggerated and modified through time, Zack Snyder projected a very clever portrayal - he used typical actors with typical acting capabilities but elevated it through cinemtagrophy, fighting coreography and a kick-ass plot.

The film invokes fear, suspense, rage and passion to its audience. It's dialogue involves a plethora of speech techniques - from witty conversations to strong, threatening statements all in the spirit of the greatest glory a Spartan can get in the battlefield: a brutal death.

The story follows a predictable storyline - nations are at war, the hero goes to fight against the odds facing certain death and so on and so forth. But Snyder knew this was typical. He made it shine by taking the audience on a roller-coaster ride of violence, sex, betrayal, more violence and a hint of homophobia care of the Persian human-self-declared-God Xerces.

The Spartans battle an impossible confrontation of 300 versus a million and the filmmaker took advantage of this to wow the audience though tactical soldiery and organized fighting, which worked. This was done on a majority of the film and successfully made the nearly 2 hour length into the best 2 minute amusement park ride ever made.

After the film friends and strangers show the effect of the film on them in mostly any public place you can imagine through screams of "This is Sparta!!" or "What is your profession... Hooza!!!" which clearly shows the impact on the audience. I believe this also is a very good marketing tool for the film using word-of-mouth recommendation. I could be wrong but try and explain why it already made $130 million on its second week and I'll shut up.

Clearly a MUST SEE.

Rating: 8 out of 10

"How do you eat an elephant? Piece by piece..." - A wise mentor

H E A R T L E S S

This is for the thousands who applied...

For the hundreds who stated it was direly urgent...

And the few who had no deceit intended...

And didn't make it.

An old lady laced with age and experience wept as her husband who lived thousands of miles from her was reported to have two weeks to live suffering from numerous diseases, one of which was terminal. Watching over her grandchildren in this country and him taking the opportunity of living a better life in a farther place with two of their children, they made the conscious decision to be apart - only for the meantime and be reunited once things fell in better places. Clearly, a bold sacrifice for their loved ones.

Upon hearing the tragic news, she strove to get to him as soon as she can. There were limits, immigration issues and time to mention a few, but she would not stop and would do all she could to be with him, at least before it all ended upon the cold touch of death.

With the pressure of time on her back, she held her breath as she approached the American Embassy. After somewhat a couple of sleepless nights of worries and non-stop preparation of the right documents explaining the urgency, she was finally at what she believed was the biggest climax of her life - the moment that would determine her reunification and literally the last chance to be with the man she has loved for the past 50 years.

Sad to say, it was brutal and quick. The 72 hours of preparation and hoping was ended in a matter of 2 minutes, without even at the very least viewing the prepared documents.

"You have a husband there, what's gonna stop you from staying with him? My answer is no." said the officer playing God.

"Officer, please let me explain the situation..."

"Get out now before I call the guards." she interrupted.

She walked out feeling defeated and burned with despair. The thought of not seeing him again was unbearable. She was prepared to leave in six hours upon being granted the visa and now she didn't know what to do.

This didn't stop her from hoping though. With her son's help, she continued to strive and had made certain calls to schedule an appeal. Despite her sudden and sad encounter, she felt hopeful and she knew she would not give up.

The next night, her daughter from the U.S. called and said that he had already succumbed. Her grip on the telephone tightened as tears suddenly fell from her eyes. Despair filled her heart and all hope abandoned her. In all her right to scorn those who prevented her from seeing him again, she did otherwise. She simply wept and mourned the loss of her dear husband and let sadness, instead of anger and hatred, engulf her.

People would say stuff like "That's how things in the embassy goes..." or "Such is life." And to some extent, they're right. But, and I say this now with the simple intention to show how one's one-second choice can tragically change lives and lifetimes, on that day, let's not ignore what happened to that poor woman - what she lost, what she will never have again. And all because a system that rose from years of actual occurrences has corrupted the human spirit and prevented it from hearing out the true needs of a person.

What a disappointing day for anyone who has a heart.

Vaja con Dios, Cap. May you have a good landing there.

And sure, I'll try to stay away from drugs.

Good times with Tom!

Every Christmas season, ABS-CBN (apparently the company that gives a little too much benefits to its employees) hands out a Purefoods Holiday Ham to all its workers. What better benefit is there than to bring home a HAM to the dinner table and say: "I earned that!"

In Tom's enthusiasm, we have been talking about this in advance as he waits for his genuine, fat, sweet HAM package to be sitting on his desk, ready and waiting to be taken home.

Lo and behold, yesterday was the day it finally arrived and we exchange our thoughts via messenger as documented below:

barborifico: Chong! Makukuha ko na yung HAM ko!

(Bro/Dude! I'm gonna get my HAM today!)

pilato10: The best!
barborifico: HAM = destiny
pilato10: HAM = freedom
pilato10: They may take our lives, BUT THEY'LL NEVER TAKE OUR HAM!!!
barborifico: hahahahahaha!
barborifico: Do you know what's across that shore? HAM!!! Take it! IT'S YOURS!!!!
pilato10: hahahahhahaha!!!
pilato10: MAXIMUS: Are you not HAMMED????
barborifico: hahahahahaahaha!!!
pilato10: SHIHIRU-CHIYANA-SIHIYO-WAKANURA-HAM!!!! - The Last Samurai
barborifico: hahahahahahahhahahahahaha!!!!!!!
pilato10: bwaahahhahahahahahahahahah!!!!!

It's amazing what the toxic work can do to your comedy standards...

Good times, Tom!

"How do you write about women so well?" asked THE fan.
"I think of a man. Then I take out reason and accountability." said THE Melvin Udall
- Jack Nicholson, As Good as it Gets

Back after nearly a year...

What a comeback!

I'm sorry... I really just have to share this.

A good friend staying in Irvine who chose to remain anonymous had a movie-moment the other day and just had to share it with me. I, in turn, would like to share it as well. ("A" for impact.)

Typical TV commercial / Movie scene: My friend walks in the public laundry and does what people do there. He sits and waits as his clothes spin about...

Hot black girl walks in, (I'd like to emphasize: HOT) brings her laundry, puts it all in the wash, takes off her clothes, leaves her panties and a tank top on (Yes gentlemen, no bra) and sits and waits with my friend.

My friend palpitates, probably creating a hole in his sock as he scrapes his toes on the sole of his shoes during the awkward moment. He breathes and waits as his peripheral vision does him all but well. Then, he finally looks at the camera, and just smiles.

End of scene.

(Bravo to the amazing story, my friend!)

RATING: 8 out of 10

"The goddamn pen is blue!" - Fletcher Reed, Liar, Liar

A sad, sad day... (Not a review)

Wowowee Game Show 1st Year Anniversary

Today, as of February 4, 2006 8:00pm, 73 people died and over 350 were injured in the Philippines. The cause: a human stampede.

This death toll would rival that of an actual typhoon disaster or an earthquake. But early this morning at 7am where thousands of people flocked at the ULTRA stadium in Pasig City, senior citizens, women and children lay dead on the ground as hundreds more trample their bodies just to get a chance to enter the track oval (where the show was to be taped) to participate in the game show.

Stories from victims say that someone claimed there was a bomb, others simply believe that the Filipino mentality claimed the innocent lives of the poor victims. It's sad how the lack of discipline, organization and decency to actually be patient resulted in this violent rampage of unwanted death and injury. I was under the impression that only animals were involved in stampedes. I guess I was wrong.

73 people lost their lives today in the hope to win some money and prizes to make their lives a little better. How ironic. How tragic.

Once again my country hits the international headlines. I truly wait for the day when I can actually be proud that this happens.

RATING: (none)

"Give a mouse a cookie, and its gonna want a glass of milk." -Anonymous